Avenger: A Chaotic Future Side Story
by Arius Miura de Galdri
Summary: After crash landing on Earth, Prince Dorian of Galdria finds himself stuck in the middle of a conflict that's been raging for years. Androids 17 and 18 have ravaged the world, and with the Earth's best fighters dead, Dorian may be humanity's last hope.
1. Part One: Lost

_**Dorian, Prince of Galdria and Heir to the imperial throne, is stranded on Earth. There is no way to return home, and his natural Galdrian energy is slowly weakening, being drained from him by the very world he must now protect.**_

_**Human beings are weak, and they cannot stand against the destructive powers of Androids 17 and 18, who have kept the people of Earth beaten and afraid for far too long. But no more, for if there is no one among the humans who can face 17 and 18 in battle, then Dorian himself must take up their struggle. **_

_**The Androids must be stopped…**_

"**Avenger."**

**(Dorian's Tale)**

– **A "Chaotic Future" Side Story –**

**PART ONE:**

**LOST**

Dorian had lost control.

The flashing of red emergency lights flooded the small bridge of his Galdrian cruiser as he stood over the erratically sparking flight controls, his hands a blur as they tore across the panel, trying in vain to correct the ship's sudden change in course. Sweat ran freely down his pale face, dripping onto the overheating controls to be evaporated almost instantly. Without warning, the ship's gravity-regulations system failed, and Dorian felt his stomach lurch as his body tried to overcompensate for the sudden change in pressure. His vision blurred, and he momentarily fell to the cold metal floor of the control room, his body trembling from fatigue and, admittedly, fear.

_What could have happened?_ the Galdrian Prince thought frantically, his shining blue eyes wide with panic as he staggered back to his feet, dashing the short distance to the ship's communications system. Before Dorian could transmit a distress call, however, the entire chamber seemed to lurch to the left, causing him to fall to the floor once again as he slid away from the controls, cursing as he fought to find any handhold on the smooth, metal flooring of the bridge. After what seemed like an eternity, Dorian managed to pull his way up the steep slope to the communications system, and he finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.

_That was too close_, he silently admitted, running a trembling hand through his sweat-drenched, dark blue hair. _Okay, I need to send a distress signal home. Once I do that—_ Before the young Heir could finish his thought, a sudden flash of light and sparks shot out from the control panel, blinding him and burning his face and eyes. He cried out as the ship shook violently, a sure sign that it had been drawn into a nearby planet's atmosphere. Heat began to build up within the small ship, causing the already-perspiring young man to sweat even more, and just as it seemed that his flesh would be seared from his bones in the relentlessly scorching temperature, the Galdrian vessel once again reeled to the side, tossing Dorian and several pieces of heavy equipment around the chamber as if they weighed nothing.

As the blue-eyed Prince of Galdria struck his head violently against the unyielding metal of his ship's ceiling, one final thought passed quickly through his mind:

_I'm going to die…_

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The ship fell.

Down through the unknown, blue planet's atmosphere the Galdria cruise sped like a bolt of light, illuminating the darkened night sky with a surreal display of yellow, orange, and red flames. Over oceans, over forests, deserts, and several small collections of shanty-like structures, Dorian's dying space craft screamed in agony before finally colliding mercilessly with the planet's surface, kicking up an enormous cloud of smoke and debris. Errant sparks and tendrils of flame shot out from the ruined ship, accompanied by the hiss and pop of exploding electronic devices.

Moments later, a group of barely a dozen wary, frightened men and women emerged from somewhere in the darkness, moving cautiously forward, searching for any sign of the mysterious disturbance's whereabouts. Having seen the falling object, and mistaking it for a shooting star, the inhabitants of a nearby "village" had emerged from their shelters, praying that the streak of light in the sky would prove to be some sort of portent, some signal that hope still remained out there somewhere.

These were a beaten and weary people.

"I think it came down somewhere over here!"

"No, no, it was further this way, I tell you!"

"You're both idiots! I saw it hit over there!"

"Quiet, all of you!" a powerful voice commanded. A tall, broad-shouldered man pushed his way to the front of the assemblage, a blazing torch held out before him as he surveyed his surroundings. In the fire's light, the massive, bearded man's piercing green eyes glowed ominously, for he alone considered this evening's events to be a sign of harder times to come. "Whatever that thing was, it came from the west and was moving east." Lifting one large, heavily-muscled arm, the bearded-man pointed to the east. "_That's_ where we'll find it. I need a two or three good men to come with me, and the others will take the women and children back to the village." His eyes narrowed into a glare that tolerated _no_ objections. "Well, get on then!"

After several moments, the man, who seemed to hold some position of authority among the others, and his selected companions set out to find the source of their night's disruption. After making their way silently into the dark forest that surrounded their small hovel-village, the four nervous men could barely make out a bright, yellow-orange light in the distance, barely a mile or so off.

"My God," the bearded leader exclaimed, running a calloused hand through his shaggy mane of thick, dark hair. He and his three comrades had stumbled out of the forest into a clearing that, as far as any of them could recall, had not existed only days before. The trees all around had been incinerated, and it was a miracle that the whole forest hadn't been ignited. In the center of this newly-made clearing burned a fire the likes of which none of the men had ever seen before. Tendrils of orange flame, as if they had a mind of their own, whipped to and fro, accompanied by billowing columns of jet-black smoke. Jagged bolts of electricity coursed around the object that was the source of the inferno, shooting out in all directions as if hoping to catch some pour soul off guard.

"What the hell is it?" one of the villagers asked, shading his eyes as he peered deeply into the insane display of fire and lightning before them, all the while keeping a safe distance.

Another of the men, feeling slightly braver than his companions, took a few tentative steps forward. "It looks like some sort of machine…" His voice trailed off as a spark of hope ignited within him. "A… A _plane_, maybe?!" he asked excitedly.

In the years since the androids, 17 and 18, had all but taken control of the planet, no one had seen any sort of manmade aircraft in the skies. It was as if the two artificial humans had declared themselves rulers of not only the cities and people of the Earth, but of the sky as well.

"No, it doesn't look like any plane that I've ever seen," the leader commented as he moved forward to stand beside the now-crestfallen man. "But still…" A moment of silence passed over the clearing, interrupted only by the dull roar of the burning spacecraft. "Pol, Erik," the bearded man barked suddenly into the silence, "go back to the village and gather anyone who's able-bodied enough to help us! We need water, lots of it, or even dirt if that's all you can find. Bring medical supplies, and something that we could use as a stretcher. Well, what are you waiting for, get to it!"

When the two named villagers had departed, the remaining man turned to face the green-eyed leader. "Do you really think that there's someone in there? Do you really think that… That they're _alive_?"

"I don't know, Goran," the black-haired, massive man replied. "But we can't just stand around if someone _is_ in there, can we?" When the man called Goran nodded his agreement, the village leader furrowed his brow and gazed long and hard into the raging flames. Something was gnawing at him, from somewhere deep within his mind, something that pushed him to request aid from the village. _I can't explain this, but whatever has happened tonight, it'll change all of our lives for a long time to come_, he silently admitted. _And, though it may not necessarily be a change for the better, I'm willing to take my chances…_

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_Several years earlier…_

Ellia pouted.

"Why can't I go with you?" she pleaded, not for the first time. The Galdrian noblewoman crossed her arms over her chest, closing her purple eyes and turning her head away from Dorian as he placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Slowly Ellia opened one eye to stare defiantly at the Galdrian Heir, who let out a sigh of exasperation.

This had been going on for hours, which was exactly why Dorian had wanted to keep his leaving a secret from Ellia until the last minute. Despite her age, the Galdrian Prince was forced to admit that Ellia had a tendency to act like a spoiled child, and it was hard to remember that, like Dorian himself, the seemingly-young noblewoman was actually in her late-twenties.

"Ellia, I _have_ to go on this expedition," Dorian told her again, for what was probably the hundredth time. "And I have to go _alone_; you know the rules." It was hard to say, but it was the truth. Dorian was the next in line for the imperial throne, and it was his duty to see as much of the universe as he could for the next decade, to broaden his horizons before returning home to Galdria to assume his official responsibilities as Heir. Telling his favorite cousin that they wouldn't be seeing each other for ten years was a task that Dorian had really hoped to avoid.

Ellia, after all, could be very hard to persuade.

"Listen," he continued, brushing a strand of pale blue hair out of Ellia's face and tucking it gently behind her ear. "This trip isn't going to be any fun for me, either. At least _you_ get to stay here, and have all the comforts of home, right?" Slowly, Ellia nodded. "I, on the other hand, am going to be holed up inside my damn ship for _ten years_! Does that sound like a good time to you?"

"You don't have to talk to me like I'm a little girl," Ellia suddenly retorted, shrugging Dorian's hand off from her shoulder. "But… I understand what you mean, I guess." Then, in a startling show of affection, Ellia gave her cousin a brief hug, pulling away after only a moment. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Dorian nodded, patting Ellia on the top of the head. "Okay. But the same goes for you, understand? Ten years is a long time, do you think you can stay out of trouble for that long?"

"Sure, no problem," the purple-eyed young woman replied with a slight smile.

"Okay, it's a deal then," Dorian said with a chuckle. "And don't think I won't hold you to it." With that, the Prince of Galdria turned his back on the noblewoman and began his trek toward the palace spaceport. Before he'd gotten too far, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Dorian," Ellia said, locking eyes with her cousin. "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," Dorian responded with a confident smile. "Soon."

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Dorian awoke in pain.

His bloodshot, shining blue eyes snapped open, taking in the unfamiliar scenery around him. He was laying in a bed, or rather a large cot, covered in layers and layers of heavy, soft blankets. The room seemed small, though, dark as it was, it was hard to guess at the chamber's actual dimensions. A small window let, to the right of the cot, was the room's only source of light: that of the moon and stars.

"Who is she?" a quiet, feminine voiced asked from the darkness.

Dorian nearly jumped out of his skin, so startled was he by the sudden sound in the oppressing stillness, and as soon as he moved, the Galdrian Prince regretted it. Searing pain tore through his limbs, eliciting a gasp of shock and agony from his burned lips. He immediately lay back down, clenching his eyes shut and doing everything in his power to block out the waves of hot pain that coursed throughout his battered and burned body.

"Don't move, okay?" the voice asked again, accompanied this time by a movement in the shadows to Dorian's left. Into the faint light cast by the full moon, a young woman came into view, her brow furrowed with concern. Due to the inky blackness of the poorly lit room, though, the injured Galdrian was unable to make out any of the strange girl's features. She knelt beside his bed, pulling a cold, wet rag from a bowl of water on the floor and gently placing it over Dorian's forehead. "You're hurt pretty bad, stranger. We weren't sure that you were going to pull through… It's been seven days since your… uh, _accident_." Her soft voiced stopped for a moment as she studied her patient in the shadowy darkness. "Do you remember anything?"

Despite the young woman's inquiry, Dorian remained silent. _Where am I?_ he wondered frantically, cursing his broken body as he attempted once again to move. A gently hand on his chest prevented any more efforts, though. _My ship… I must have crashed on this planet…_

"So… Who is she?" the girl repeated in her soft voice. It was obvious, even to Dorian, that the mysterious young woman was merely trying to make conversation, perhaps to keep the injured Heir's mind off of his numerous wounds.

"Who?" he said, speaking for the first time since regaining consciousness. His voice sounded dry and scratchy to his own ears, and apparently the woman heard it as well, for almost immediately a glass of cool water was pressed to his scorched lips. When he'd drunk his fill, Dorian repeated his earlier question.

"You called out a woman's name while you were unconscious," the girl explained, setting the now-empty glass aside. "You kept calling for her.. 'Ellia,' I think it was." Since Dorian apparently chose not to answer, a heavy silence once again dominated the moonlit room. Finally, she spoke again. "Is she your girlfriend?"

To his own surprise, Dorian actually laughed, which caused yet more jolts of pain to shoot through him. For several minutes straight, all that the blue-haired Prince could do was laugh uncontrollably, nearly hysterically, so amazed was he to still be alive. Tears of shock and relief ran freely down his face, stinging as the trickled steadily through his numerous burns and abrasions. His reaction must have startled his young hostess, for the girl leapt to her feet and jumped back, raising her arms defensively before her. The battered Prince immediately regretted his surprising response, and he voiced his apology as the young woman sat down beside his cot once again.

"No," he explained, once again clenching his eyes shut, trying in vain to ignore his numerous pains. "Ellia is my cousin; my _father's_ cousin, actually. We're close to the same age, so we played together a lot while growing up." With his mirth finally dying down, Dorian found his mind filled with a deep, growing dread. After another moment of silence, he voiced the question that had been gnawing away at him. "Where… Where exactly _am_ I?"

"This is Lant Village, on the planet Earth," the girl replied, her voice grave. "And if the weird clothes you were wearing and the strange aircraft you crashed here in are any indication, I'd say that you're very, _very_ far from home…"

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Weeks passed.

Everything passed by as a haze to the recuperating Prince Dorian, though, much to the surprise of his saviors, the terrible wounds and burns that had covered most of the blue-haired young man's body were healing miraculously fast. It was Dorian's Galdrian blood, using his reserves of energy to increase his recovery speed, but rather than disclose this fact to the kind humans who had rescued him, the Galdrian Heir chose to let them think their own care was entirely the cause. Even after spending so many days with these strangers, Dorian could hardly believe the lengths they went to in their efforts to make him well again, despite their own lack of materials and money.

Through bits and pieces of conversation with Erin—the young girl whom Dorian had met when first awakening—and her father Viktor—the large, village leader to whom Dorian learned he now owed his life—the Prince of Galdria was slowly beginning to understand the dire circumstances that the people of Lant Village were forced to endure. If they were to be believed, this was the story as Dorian understood it:

Three years earlier, two immensely powerful fighters had appeared seemingly out of nowhere to begin a reign of terror that the people of Earth were suffering under still. All of the planet's strongest warriors were cut down by the two creatures, a male and a female who later identified themselves and Androids 17 and 18, and with no one left to oppose them, the siblings wasted no time subduing the rest of the population. Most of the planet was in shambles, with hardly any people left alive at all, and Dorian was surprised to learn that Lant Village, despite their lack of food, water, and basic supplies, was probably one of the most prosperous human habitations on the face of the Earth. The villagers owed their incredible good fortune to their isolated location; it seemed that the androids had simply been unable to find them.

So far…

For the first several days after regaining consciousness, Dorian was accompanied by Viktor and some of the other villagers as he went through the wreckage of his ship, tossing the parts he thought may be useful to one side and everything that was irreparable to another. Precious little had survived the crash, though, and the stranded Prince was nearly overcome with fear when he realized that he would be unable to return home, or to even transmit some form of distress signal. He knew that given enough time he would be able to cobble together _something_ from the remains of his ship, but it would take many, many years.

Dorian was hopelessly lost…

_To be continued…_

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_**Coming soon:**_

_**After years of living undisturbed by the androids' evil reign, the unthinkable occurs: 17 and 18 discover Lant Village! With his Galdrian powers diminished, will Dorian be able to defend his newfound friends, or will he become just another victim of the androids' killing spree?**_

"_**Avenger."**_

_**(Dorian's Tale)**_

_**PART TWO:**_

_**RUIN**_


	2. Part Two: Ruin

"**Avenger."**

**(Dorian's Tale)**

– **A "Chaotic Future" Side Story –**

**PART TWO:**

**RUIN**

Dorian wiped the sweat from his brow.

"How you doing up there, boy?" Viktor shouted up from the ground with a slight chuckle. The mountainous man used his right hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he watched the Prince work, a small smile gracing his stern features. It had been over a year since Dorian had fallen from the sky, and in that time the blue-haired young man had proven his worth dozens, maybe even _hundreds_, of times. There was no job in the village that Dorian wouldn't do, though even he'd admit that he was much better at some than others. In fact, in Viktor's opinion, the stranger from space was a harder worker than most of the villagers.

"I'm hot, dirty, sore, and hungry," Dorian replied affably, swinging his legs to hang over the edge of the roof he was helping re-thatch. The Galdrian Heir leapt lightly down from his perch, landing easily on his feet beside the village leader, who clapped him firmly on the back as they headed toward the home shared by them and Erin, who was preparing a lunch for the two men. "The damage really wasn't so bad," Dorian commented, using a rag offered by Viktor to wipe the sweat from his dirt-streaked face. "Luckily after the lightning struck, everyone was pretty quick in putting out the fire." He coughed suddenly, spitting out a mouthful of dirty saliva. "The ash though, and the soot… I hate to imagine what my lungs must look like right now."

Three days earlier, a massive storm had torn through Lent Village, leveling several of the small structures and damaging many more. Much of the surrounding forest had also been ravaged by the tempest, and crews of volunteers were out cutting the fallen trees into sizeable loads of firewood to support the village through the coming winter.

Sometimes word reached the village of the world outside, and of the continuing chaos brought on by 17 and 18, who seemed unstoppable. Every time that news of this sort came, Dorian was filled with rage; why should the kind people of this planet, strangers who taken him in, saved his life even, be forced to bear this burden of violence? For the first few months, the Prince was determined that, when he'd sufficiently recovered his strength, _he_ would go out and face these androids personally. But time passed, and his powers never returned fully, for he had used too much of his remaining Galdrian energy during his recovery after the accident.

And the Earth, he found, did not generate the kind of power that he needed.

"How's the rebuilding going?" Erin asked when the two men entered their home and sat stiffly at the small table. Her eyes, which were a stormy grey, took a quick glance over Dorian's shirtless body, admiring his nearly perfect physique and smooth, sun-bronzed skin. In what seemed to her like a miracle, not a single scar remained on the Galdrian's body, despite the severity of his burns, which were bad enough to have killed anyone else. When she noticed Dorian watching her, a sudden blush came to her cheeks and she immediately set the trays of hot, though meager, food down upon the table before her father and the blue-eyed Prince. When they began eating, Erin quickly left the room, obviously embarrassed.

Her father remained oblivious to the entire event.

The meal was simple, bland even; much different from the extravagant feasts that Dorian had once been used to in the imperial palace on Galdria. After an entire year of such fare had actually improved Dorian's physique, though, so he found very little to complain about. Constant work coupled with very limited food supplies had chiseled the young Galdrian into top shape, and this, added to his greater-than-human strength, had worked to make Dorian very popular among the workmen of the village. If something was too heavy for one of them to lift, they merely had to call the Prince over, and when building supplies or materials had to be taken to the top of a roof or cliff, the blue-haired young man was the prime candidate, due to his ability to defy gravity.

Later, as the sun set beyond the western horizon, Dorian slipped silently from the village and into the surrounding forest, seeking out the small, cleverly-concealed cave that he had discovered months ago. It was here, in the secluded darkness of the night, guided only by the dim glow of an oil lantern, that the stranded Galdrian Heir worked tirelessly on a project which he had kept even from his newfound friends in Lant Village: the construction of a long-range, interplanetary transmitter. From the charred remnants of his decimated space craft, Dorian had managed to retrieve a handful of parts that, he hoped, would still be usable, though he often found himself overcome by a deep shadow of hopelessness. Unfortunately, even with this handful of Galdrian technology, Dorian knew that he was far too distant from his home world for any message to ever be received.

Sweat ran down Dorian's face as he tightened down a bolt on his makeshift transmitter, his eyes straining to see in the dim, flickering lantern light. Sitting back on his heels, the blue-eyed Prince of Galdria let out a long-held breath, wiping his brow on the back of his hand. How long had it been, really, since he'd spoken to his parents, or to anyone from his own race, for that matter?

In the oppressive darkness of the small, cluttered cave, Dorian remembered…

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_Two years earlier…_

Ellia smiled emptily.

"Don't worry, Ellia," Dorian said with a slight smile as he noticed his cousin's reticence on the view screen. "I'll only be gone for a few more years, right? Don't tell me it's _really_ been that dull without me." He gave Ellia a quick wink, hoping to elicit some kind of response from the girl, but to no avail. Finally, the amethyst-eyed young woman spoke.

"Dorian, I…" her voice, sounding strangely subdued, trailed off as tears sprang to her eyes unbidden. Before the Prince could respond to this unusual outburst of emotion, Ellia continued. "I've… I've met a man."

"Oh?" Dorian stammered, unable to say anything more, so surprised was he by this odd confession.

More silence followed, and Ellia turned her face away, hiding her tears from Dorian. A bit of static coursed across the screen, most likely due to the extreme distance between the Galdrian Heir and his father's cousin. Even across such a vast expanse, the tension was thick.

"Ellia, what's wrong?" Dorian prompted finally, raising a curious eyebrow. "What's happening?" Several thoughts were, at this point, tearing through the blue-haired young man's mind: _Has this man hurt her somehow? What is she hiding? Who could she have met? Do Mother and Father disapprove?_

"Dorian… I love him," Ellia spoke faintly, wiping the trails of tears from her pale face. "This man, he… He isn't like us, Dorian. He's different, but…"

"But what?" Dorian asked into the sudden silence that followed Ellia's words.

"I don't know how to explain it; all I can say is that I love him. I hope you can understand." Finally, Ellia raised her shining eyes to the screen, and in them Dorian saw that her words were true. This man, this stranger that his cousin had spoken of, had somehow managed to steal her heart.

"Well," Dorian said, smiling at Ellia's obvious discomfort. "You know, of course, that I have to approve of him first." The teasing tone in his voice wasn't lost on Ellia, who flashed another hollow, empty smile. "I expect you'll arrange a meeting between us, when I return? How else will I be able to tell whether or not he's worthy of you? After all, you _are_ a noblewoman," he finished with a laugh.

"Dorian, I'm sorry," Ellia replied humorlessly. "I won't… _We_ won't be here when you return. Pare and I are leaving, as soon as he's well enough; we're leaving Galdria," a look of steely determination stole across Ellia's delicate features as she continued, "for good."

"You're _what_!" Dorian shouted, gripping the sides of the view screen with both hands and pulling himself closer. "What do you mean you're leaving? What will Mother and Father think?"

"They can't know about this, Dorian," Ellia responded harshly, shaking her head. "The situation is very sensitive; I can't risk them finding out about us. They'd kill him… They'd kill both of us!"

"You can't be serious! Why would they kill you, Ellia? You're family!" Dorian countered, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Just what kind of person is this man, this _Pare_? I've not heard of him before!"

"Dorian, I'm so sorry. I'll miss you, and I'll always remember you."

The monitor went blank as the communication was ended, leaving Dorian all alone in the darkness of his space cruiser. He sat back in his seat, running a trembling hand through his sweat-dampened blue hair, closing his eyes to ward off the headache that he felt hurriedly approaching.

He never saw Ellia again.

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An explosion rocked the cave.

Dorian leapt forward, using his body to cover his transmitter as a shower of dirt and debris cascaded down from the cave's ceiling. After the first tremor had passed, the Galdrian warrior dashed quickly from his secret workshop, leaping high into the air as he scanned the surrounding area for any indication of what may have caused the mysterious quake. As he turned his attention toward the village, Dorian felt his stomach twist.

There, on the western horizon, a faint orange glow lit the dark night sky. Sensing that something was dreadfully wrong, Dorian coursed through the sky toward Lant, his body surrounded by a flickering aura of bright blue Galdrian energy. When he neared the settlement, a second explosion rocked the night, prompting the Prince to increase his already-substantial speed. Upon reaching the village, Dorian dropped from the sky to land easily in the middle of the small town square, his eyes darting from side to side, in search of whatever, or _whoever_, was the cause of this chaos.

Lant Village was in flames, and precious few of the ramshackle structures remained standing. All around him, the villagers ran to and fro, their arms loaded with everything that they could carry as they sped off into the darkness, fleeing from some unknown terror. Dorian closed his eyes, trying his hardest to sense anything unusual, but was interrupted by a familiar voice shrieking his name.

"_Dorian!_" Erin cried, struggling in vain to lift a burning, fallen beam from off of her father, who lay unmoving on the ground several yards away. "Please, help me! I can't lift it!" Tears coursed down the girl's cheeks, cutting clean paths through the soot and blood that stained her face.

In an instant, Dorian was at Viktor's side, using his inhuman strength to easily toss the debris aside. Erin immediately knelt beside her father, laying his head gently in her lap as she wept, praying that he'd regain consciousness. The large man's face was pale, and an excessive amount of blood could be seen flowing from a terrible gash in his forehead.

"What's going on here?" Dorian asked frantically as screams punctuated the confusion around him. "Are we being attacked?"

"It's _them_," Erin replied harshly, nearly spitting as she continued. "Those damned androids, Dorian! They've found us…" Her voice trailed off as she was overcome by grief. "Somehow they've found us…"

_So, it's finally come to this_, Dorian thought grimly, standing to his feet. _I'll do everything in my power to stop them… They _won't _get away with this!_

"Dorian, wait," a quiet, pain-filled voice protested. To Erin and Dorian's surprise, despite his wounds, Viktor staggered to his feet, gasping once or twice in pain as he did so. "I know what you're thinking, but I will not allow you to throw your life away. Not like this…"

"But Viktor," Dorian objected through clenched teeth, "I have to—"

"You have to get Erin and the others to safety, understand?" Viktor interrupted, grabbing Dorian roughly by the shoulders. "With this undertaking, I am entrusting _you_." As he spoke, several of the men from the village gathered around, each holding some makeshift weapon in their hands as they nodded their agreement with their leader. "Take the women and children, and whoever else you can find, away from here. Go west, and in a week's time you should reach West City…" He paused for a moment, a distant look clouding his usually clear eyes. "Or rather, what used to be West City."

"Viktor's right, Dorian," another man, Goran, said. "We're trusting you to get our families to safety. Please," he continued, a wry smile on his lips, "don't let us down."

Before Dorian could make any comment, however, an orb of scintillating, white-hot energy descended from the sky above, striking the ground only feet away from the gathered villagers. Errant energy, dust, and fragments of sharp stone exploded all around Dorian and the others, knocking everyone to the ground in an instant. As the smoke cleared, a pair of figures could be made out standing calmly in the center of the burning village.

"You see, 18," a male's voice said, tinged with humor. "I _told_ you we missed some. I'll bet that there're a ton of little settlements like this hidden all over the place." Through the cloud of dust and debris, a young man with long, dark hair and eyes of icy blue stepped forward. From his arrogant posture and his slightly mismatched outfit, one may have mistaken this man for nothing more than a simple teenager, but it was those eyes; those lifeless, cold eyes that made all the difference.

"So what?" answered a husky, feminine voice. "You were right this _one_ time, big deal. What fun is this, anyway?" Coming up to stand beside the first figure was a young woman so gorgeous that, for a moment, Dorian forgot that he was facing the enemy. The beautiful girl's figure was flawless, and her pale, lovely face, framed as it was by golden, shoulder-length hair, seemed too incredible to be true. When she spoke once again, her heartless words snapped Dorian immediately out of his stupor. "I mean sure, we can kill all of these humans, but what's the point? I'm getting bored."

"What about them?" the male—whom Dorian remembered was called 17—asked, gesturing toward Viktor and the others, who had all managed to regain their footing. "_They_ look like they could be a lot of fun, 18. What do you say?"

"Sure, why not," the blonde young woman replied, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. "Wait just a minute, 17," she said, turning her eyes, which were the exact same as 17's, toward Dorian. "I'm picking up a pretty high power level from that one. What do you think?" She put her hands behind her back as she strolled casually forward, stepping out of the gloom and approaching Dorian, who remained crouched on the ground, his arms wrapped defensively around a blushing Erin.

Now that Dorian had a chance to see Android 18 more clearly, he found himself appalled by her perfection, rather than enraptured by it. Two long, slender legs—covered by tight, black leggings—descended from a short denim skirt, which hugged her hips sensuously. The matching denim vest that she wore over her black undershirt did nothing to disguise the rest of her body; in fact, this subtle covering made her seem all the more alluring. But all of this—added to her frighteningly flawless neck, face, and hair—made the female android seem monstrous in her perfection.

And those cold, lifeless eyes…

"So, do you want to play with us?" 18 asked, her voice taking on a flirting, innocent tone as she stopped mere feet away from Dorian. "I'll bet _you_ could show us a good time." She knelt down until she was eye level with the trembling Prince of Galdria. "You must be the one we sensed." When she saw the shadow of confusion that passed over Dorian's features, 18 let loose with a musical laugh that made everyone's blood run cold. "Surely you must have realized that it was _you_ who drew us here? Do you really think that all these weak humans, even put together, would be enough to set off our scanners?" She shook her head as she stood to her feet, placing her hands on her hips as she studied Dorian, her head tilted slightly to the side. "It took us a while to find your exact location, but as you can see, it was only a matter of time. And now—"

Before 18 could finish her sentence, the roar of a shotgun echoed through the night. The blast, fired by a young man from the village named Pol, struck the artificial human dead on, and the hundreds of buckshot pellets that accompanied the thunderous discharge tore easily through 18's clothing, eliciting a grunt of annoyance from the android, but nothing else. Her pale, perfect skin remained unharmed, though her features became contorted with rage as she turned to stare Pol directly in the eye.

"You've ruined my clothes, you bastard!" she shouted, thrusting her arm forward and firing off a discharge of energy that easily tore through the young man's chest, killing him instantly. "17, let's get this over with. Just kill them all."

"Sure," 17 replied with a grin. "It's about time, if you ask me." With barely even a tilt of his head, the black-haired android sent a wave of energy exploding outward from within his body, directing the attack toward the gathered villagers. Dozens were killed as they attempted to flee.

"Dorian, go now!" Viktor shouted as he ran to stand between the devilish androids and his daughter and newfound friend. "Please, get everyone that you can out of here, do you understand?" Dorian was about to protest, but was cut off by the hulking, savage eyed man who stood before him. "God damn it Dorian! _Get my daughter out of here!_" With a cry of anger and hatred, Viktor bent over and picked up the very same beam of wood that had kept him pinned to the ground only moments before. Wielding the piece of wreckage like a club, the dark-haired village leader ran toward the androids, who stood calmly watching with faint smiles stretched across their lifeless lips.

Quickly, taking advantage of the moment, Dorian picked Erin up into his arms and leapt into the sky, soaring over the androids' heads as he flew toward the rest of the escaping villagers.

"Everyone, follow me!" Dorian cried out as tears poured endlessly from his shining blue eyes. "Come on, leave no one behind!"

As they continued to cruise easily through the air, Erin buried her face against Dorian's chest and wept as everything she knew was ripped away from her. Her father, her friends, even her village were gone, and the future seemed far too horrible to comprehend. Dorian held the girl close as he tried unsuccessfully to swallow his own grief, and he clenched his teeth as a low growl of rage escaped his lips.

_This is _not_ over_, he swore as he led the ragged group of survivors away from the decimated remains of their precious Lant Village. _I swear to you, Viktor… I swear to all of you who sacrificed yourselves so that _we_ could live on…_

_I will avenge you all._

_To be continued…_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_**Coming soon:**_

_**Finally, the face off that we've all been waiting for! Dorian, filled with rage after the destruction of Lant Village, rushes to stop 17 and 18 as they attempt to destroy Korin Tower! Will the Prince of Galdria be successful, or will he find out that the androids are far more powerful than he could ever have imagined?**_

"_**Avenger."**_

_**(Dorian's Tale)**_

_**PART THREE:**_

"_**AVENGER"**_


	3. Part Three: Avenger

"**Avenger."**

**(Dorian's Tale)**

– **A "Chaotic Future" Side Story –**

**PART THREE:**

**AVENGER**

Dorian watched.

The stranded Prince stood on the edge of a cliff, the wind blowing savagely through his long blue hair, which was currently pulled back into a tight ponytail. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the valley far below him, and he clenched his fists as his gaze fell upon his two soon-to-be enemies.

In the center of a lush, green field bordered on all sides by thick, dark forests, a slender, uncannily tall structure made from some intricately carved, cream-colored material rose high into the sky, it's top lost somewhere in the clouds above. At ground level, at the strange tower's base, the two androids 17 and 18 were taking turns delivering thunderous kicks to the narrow structure, though despite their incredible strength, the tower still stood.

_What monsters_, Dorian thought, his body trembling with outrage as the artificial humans continued their senseless game. _They exist only to destroy… Who would unleash such abominations upon this world?_ A thin, humorless smile played momentarily upon his severe features as he realized that whoever had created the androids didn't really matter.

All that mattered now was that _he_ destroyed them.

Nearly six months had passed since the ruin of Lant Village, and in that time little else had occupied Dorian's thoughts. Day and night he was obsessed with revenge, and the only thing that had kept him from immediately rushing off to face 17 and 18 after the survivors had arrived in the remains of West City was Erin. The young woman had been terribly scarred by the events that had unfolded that night, and her father's death was never far from her thoughts. As time had passed, Dorian had surprisingly found himself falling for the kind-hearted girl, and her emotional suffering had affected him far deeper than he could ever admit.

"_Dorian,"_ she had told him just hours before, _"I love you."_

Such a simple thing, just three short words; but it had struck the Galdrian warrior like nothing ever had before. She _loved _him… This girl, whose father was dead and whose village had been destroyed all because of _him_ had somehow managed to look beyond her own grief. Erin swore that, even though her life had been ripped away from her, she would persevere, she would struggle on so long as Dorian remained by her side.

Leaving her to face the androids had been the hardest decision of his life.

Once again a strong burst of wind tore around the stationary young man, blowing his hair and long, dark jacket wildly about him as he continued to observe his opponents. Reaching into the flowing coat he now wore, Dorian withdrew a simple, eight inch long cylinder of deeply stained wood. His fingers curled around the object, feeling the intricate carvings that had been painstakingly etched into the weapon hundreds of years ago by some unknown Galdrian artificer.

With barely a thought, a blade of shining, blue Galdrian power erupted from the end of this hilt, stretching to nearly three feet in length and flickering ominously as Dorian looked down upon the androids. This one item, his precious energy saber, had never left the Prince's side, even when he'd been recovering in Lant Village. Until now, though, Dorian had never once had to use it throughout his entire voyage across the cosmos.

That was about to change.

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_Several hours earlier…_

Silence pervaded the small, hastily-constructed shelter.

Dorian stared uncomprehendingly at the old, battered radio that he had managed to obtain upon arriving in the decimated West City, unsure of the words that he had just heard. Small band communications like this one were the only real source of news concerning the androids' movements, and it was for that single reason that Dorian had struggled so hard to find a working unit. And, if the broadcast that had just been received was to be believed, he now had a rough idea of 17 and 18's current location.

"They were seen heading south," he repeated to himself, as if he'd forgotten all about Erin's presence. "Flying toward a small, relatively unimportant island chain… What could they be after?" He instantly went silent as the familiar hum of static drifted eerily out from the radio's single speaker, wondering if another transmission may be trying to work its way through, but he heard nothing.

"Korin Tower," Erin spoke softly into the silence, her storm-grey eyes widening in sudden understanding. "That's the only thing they could be after; there's nothing else down there, not really." She sat down on the edge of the shelter's single, derelict chair, running a hand through her lengthening, dirty black hair. "That _must_ be what their after…"

"And what's so special about this 'Korin Tower'?" Dorian asked, kneeling down before Erin to look directly into her downcast eyes. "Why would they be so interested in it?"

For a moment, Erin said nothing, content to merely gaze deeply into the Galdrian's iridescent blue eyes. Eventually she blushed, looking away and breaking their eye contact as she finally spoke.

"There's a legend," she said, a slight wrinkle of worry marring her brow, "about the tower. Supposedly, anyone who makes it to the top will receive ultimate power." Erin returned her eyes to Dorian's as she went on. "That's what the legend says, anyway."

_Those two with ultimate power?_ Dorian wondered, a slight chill of fear creeping slowly up his spine. _If that legend is true, and the androids know about it, we're all as good as dead!_ The Prince of Galdria stood to his feet, his clenched fists held down at his sides as his body trembled. _As if they need to be any stronger… So this is it; this is my only chance…_

"I'm leaving," Dorian stated, stopping in the doorway to look back at Erin over his shoulder. The expression of loss and fear that had stricken the black-haired young woman froze the Galdrian Prince in his place for several moments, and it took all of his power to simply close his eyes and turn his head away. "Erin, I have to do this."

"Why?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Because, Erin," the determined man replied, stepping out into the glooming morning mist. "I promised your father; I made a _vow_, damn it, that I would stop these monsters, that I would avenge all of our friends who _they_ murdered!" His voice, which had steadily increased in tone and volume, suddenly dropped to barely above a whisper. "And… And because there's no one else…"

With that, Dorian began to ascend slowly into the dull morning sky, mentally preparing himself for the struggle that he knew was soon to come. Before he'd gone very far, Erin's soft voice once again paralyzed the blue-eyed warrior. Her tone, so full of longing and sadness, was nearly enough to make Dorian return to the ground right then and there, and to forget about his vow to avenge her father and the other villagers.

"Dorian," she said, clasping her quaking hands over her chest as her stormy grey eyes glistened with unshed tears, "I love you."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Android 18 kicked.

With an echo like thunder, the artificial human's foot connected solidly with the base of the slender, impossibly tall tower. A shudder ran up and down the length of the cream-colored structure, and several chunks of small stone and a rain of dust and debris cascaded down around her as she stepped back, running a black-gloved hand through her golden-yellow hair.

"17, this is pointless," 18 said in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I mean, why go through all this trouble, huh? If you really want to know what's at the top of this thing so bad, why don't we just _fly_ up there?" As her brother readjusted the crimson bandana that he wore around his neck and stepped forward for his turn, 18 let out an irritated sigh. "Fine," she surrendered, "have it your way."

"Come on, 18," the dark-haired young man said with a wry smile. "Why would we want to fly up there when we can just kick it down? You're a real buzz kill, you know that? Just _try_ to have a little bit of fun for once." 17 walked forward, stopping just before the base of Korin Tower, throwing a few practice kicks before readying himself for the true strike. "You better get back, its coming down this—"

Before the android could finish his sentence, a bomb of pulsing blue energy exploded around him, shaking the ground and kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust and debris. Several more blasts, smaller in size but lacking nothing in ferocity, made contact, forcing 18 to jump back several feet as she erected a hasty defense.

Amidst this sudden chaos, Dorian moved in for the kill.

"What?!" Android 18 cried out in surprise as a scintillating arc of energy shot towards her from within the cloud of dust, singing through the air right where she'd been standing barely a second before. Even though she had avoided the energy saber's first strike, 18 found her reflexes being put to the test as the glowing blue blade continued to forcer her back with a dizzying combination of blows meant to keep her off balance. Suddenly, as the blonde artificial human prepared to once again dodge a saber slash, Dorian appeared beside her, knocking her off her feet with a well placed, power-charged spinning kick.

18 flew through the air and, using her hand to spring board off the ground, she landed elegantly several yards away, her back to Dorian. Slowly, the android turned her head to look over her shoulder, leveling a hate-filled glare on the Galdrian warrior, who felt his blood run cold. Finally 18 turned to face him, a small cut appearing on her right cheek, accompanied by a thin stream of blood.

"18, watch out for this guy," 17 warned, stepping out from the haze caused by Dorian's attack. The black-haired android seemed relatively unharmed, despite the severity of the Galdrian Prince's blast. "He's a lot stronger than I would have figured."

Dorian remained silent as he readied himself for the next round of combat. The blue-eyed warrior shifted his stance slightly, holding his energy saber ready before him as he warily watched 17 out of the corner of his eye. Unfortunately, it seemed that the discharge of energy that _should_ have destroyed the artificial human simply hadn't been strong enough, and now Dorian was forced to fight a battle on two fronts.

And, already, the valiant warrior from Galdria was beginning to feel fatigued.

_This damned planet!_ he thought vehemently. _How can I protect it and its people when it continues to draw all of my strength from me?_ For a moment, Dorian thought that the hopelessness of his situation would overwhelm him, but as he remembered the vow that he'd made to Viktor and the people of Lant Village, he felt that same hopelessness blown away on the wind. _I _will_ avenge you…_

"I have a great idea, 17," the blonde-haired android spoke suddenly into the oppressive silence. "Since you're the one who always says I don't know how to have fun, I've come up with a little game that we can play." 18 narrowed her eyes as she returned her attention to Dorian, who hadn't moved a muscle since their short face-off. "Don't worry, _you _can play too," she said with a false smile. "This is how it's going to work: if _you_ can manage to beat us in a fight," she gestured toward Dorian, "then 17 and I will leave this tower alone." At this, Android 17 let out a groan, and was silenced by a sudden glare from his sister. "But if _we_ win, then you can kiss the tower good-bye."

"Not this time, 18," 17 complained, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let's just kill this guy, okay? I really want to know what's up there."

"And we'll find out when we win. God, you really act like a child sometimes, you know that?" 18 asked, her voice sounding like an exasperated mother's. "Don't worry; there's no way he can beat us."

Suddenly, the battle was on, and Dorian found himself frantically defending against not one, but _both_ androids. Hoping to escape his opponents long enough to formulate some sort of plan, Dorian leapt high into the air with an explosion of blue power, knocking the androids back momentarily. This slight distraction didn't last long, however, and the Prince of Galdria was soon faced once again with both of the powerful artificial humans.

_The only way I'm ever going to win this is to separate them_, he realized, gasping as he narrowly avoided a devastating blow to the head by Android 17. _Here goes nothing!_ Using his tremendous speed to his advantage, Dorian suddenly spun around to face 18, slashing in a wide arc with his glowing saber of blue energy. The female android cried out in shock and leapt back, only to find that Dorian's attention was still focused on her. With a grunt of exertion, the black-clad warrior thrust his empty hand forward, firing off a monstrous blast of concentrated Galdrian energy which instantly enveloped 18 and drove her down toward the ground.

"You bastard!" 17 shouted as he rushed Dorian, who had been stricken suddenly by a bout of dizziness after loosing such a great amount of power. The Prince was caught completely off guard as the wrathful android lashed out at him with blow after blow, most of which met their mark effortlessly. Finally though, as Dorian's sense returned to him, the Galdrian warrior was able to disengage himself from 17's assault, dropping to the ground, where he hoped to have a moment to catch his breath.

That moment never came.

17 was upon him in an instant, appearing behind Dorian and crushing the Prince's ribs with a thunderous kick that seemed to shake the entire island. As the Galdrian fighter spat out a mouthful of blood, the dark-haired android followed up with another strike, this time a hammer-blow to the back of Dorian's head. The blue-eyed avenger fell to the ground, his body quaking with pain as he gasped for breath.

"Huh," 17 snorted, delivering a sharp kick to Dorian's already-injured ribs. "I guess you should have just left us alone, eh? Honestly, who do you think you are anyway?" Shaking his head and running a hand through his shoulder-length hair, 17 walked a slow circle around his unmoving opponent. "I don't know where you came from, pal, but I guess no one told you: this planet belongs to _us_."

"He's right, you know," 18 added, walking up to stand beside her brother. Much to Dorian's shock, despite everything he'd done to destroy her, Android 18 remained mostly unharmed. In fact, other than the cut on her cheek and the dirtied and crumpled state of her clothing, 18 looked pretty much as she had when Dorian had first seen her. "You really didn't stand a chance at all, stranger. 17 and I have made shorter work out of better fighters than _you_."

"Well, sis," 17 asked, pointing his hand down toward Dorian, "can we just kill him now?" He looked at 18 out of the corner of his eye, awaiting her final judgment.

"Not yet, 17," she replied, looking over her shoulder toward Korin Tower. "Let's knock the tower down first, that way our new friend here watch it as it crumbles. How's that sound?"

"I was wrong about you, I guess," Android 17 said with a satisfied nod. With a barely concealed smile of enjoyment, the male artificial human walked purposefully toward the base of the tower, pointing his outstretched hand toward it as he gathered energy for a final strike. "You _do_ know how to have a good time, 18." With that, 17 fired off his blast, easily destroying the base of Korin Tower and setting the rest of the structure dangerously off balance.

Dorian blacked out as the tower fell.

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The androids were disappointed.

After everything they'd gone through, it seemed that there hadn't been anything of interest at the top of the tower after all. It had taken a full hour for the entire thing to collapse, and it had turned out that dashing all around the field while trying to avoid the falling wreckage had been much more fun than the actual act of knocking it down; more fun than the short battle against the blue-eyed stranger, even. Eventually, once the deadly rain of masonry, stone, and—of all things—_pottery_ had ceased, the duo had spent the next several hours searching through the debris for anything of interest.

"Hey," 17 finally asked as he kicked over another large slab of white stone, "you find anything cool yet?" He looked toward his sister, who was studying something on the ground with what appeared to be interest. "Well?"

"No, 17, nothing," she replied with a sigh of disappointment. "Just a bunch of broken clay pots and a dead cat with a stick. You?" 18 asked, dusting off her hands as she walked over to where 17 stood with his hands on his hips.

"No, not really. Hey, how about this?" he asked, pointing to what appeared to be a human corpse not far away, crushed nearly beyond recognition. "I'm not sure, but I think this used to be a fat guy." He laughed to himself as 18 rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Honestly, 17, I _told_ you that this whole thing was just a waste of time." She sat stubbornly atop a large chunk of the fallen tower, running her thumb over the small cut on her cheek. "And now look, we've blown our entire day. And I wanted to go shopping, too."

"Hey, we could always kill that guy with the energy sword," Android 17 suggested as he peered toward the sunset on the western horizon. "I mean, _that_ could be kind of fun, right?"

"Sure, why not?" 18 agreed. "Now, where'd we leave him anyway?" With her brother at her side, 18 began searching through the rubble for any sign of Dorian, cracking her knuckles the entire time. "I swear, 17, if he was killed by this mess you made, I'll never forgive you."

"Don't worry, here he is," the black-haired fighter responded, kicking a slab of masonry away and revealing the still-unconscious form of Dorian, lying exactly where they'd left him hours before. "Look, he's still breathing even." Noticing the cut on 18's face for the first time, 17 smiled. "Looks like he got you pretty good, huh? I'll tell you what, 18: he's all yours."

Before either android could make a move against the beaten and battered Galdrian, twin blasts of golden-yellow energy shot down from above, forcing the two of them back and kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust and debris. As the pair of androids were forced to shield their eyes, a figure dropped down from the darkening evening sky, bending to quickly pick Dorian up over his shoulder.

The Prince roused and, still slightly groggy from his battle against 17 and 18, pulled away from the newly arrived stranger. Without warning, Dorian staggered back, raising his energy saber and activating it with little more than a thought. It was nearly impossible to see through the concealing cloud of dust, but it seemed to Dorian that the newcomer was barely more than a child, perhaps in his mid-teens. As the figure warily approached, the Prince of Galdria felt all of his remaining strength drain from him, and he quickly collapsed back to the ground.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," the stranger whispered into Dorian's ear as he was picked up and balanced precariously over the young man's shoulder. "Don't make a sound, we've got to get out of here. Those two won't stay distracted for long." Without another word, the young man, weighed down by the exhausted Galdrian Prince over his shoulder, shot noiselessly into the sky, leaving the androids, and the remains of Korin Tower, far behind them.

_To be continued…_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_**Coming soon:**_

_**Dorian has survived his battle against the androids, and he now realizes that, without his full power at his disposal, he is nowhere near strong enough to face them in combat again. However, will news from his mysterious young savior give the beaten and crestfallen Prince new hope?**_

"_**Avenger."**_

_**(Dorian's Tale)**_

_**PART FOUR:**_

"_**PROMISE"**_


	4. Part Four: Promise

"**Avenger."**

**(Dorian's Tale)**

– **A "Chaotic Future" Side Story –**

**PART FOUR:**

**PROMISE**

"My name is Gohan."

Silence followed this statement as Dorian, who had just awoken in a strange room, lay in bed staring up at a strange ceiling. The young man who had rescued him, and who was apparently named "Gohan," was standing on the other side of the small room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed unwaveringly upon Dorian. Finally, though his voice felt dry and rough, the Galdrian exile spoke.

"Dorian," he said softly, shifting into a sitting position to get a better look at the mysterious young warrior who had saved him from certain death at the hands of 17 and 18. Just as he had thought, Gohan was a young man, little more than a boy really, dressed in an orange martial arts gi with a dark blue undershirt and cinched at the waist by a belt of the same color. His face was set in an expression that, Dorian thought, seemed far too serious for someone of his obvious youth, and that serious countenance was dominated by a pair of dark eyes—far older than they should have been. An unruly shock of dark, spiky hair topped his head, long, but not quite as long as Dorian's own straight blue locks.

"How long has it been?" the Prince asked after having studied his savior's appearance. If he had to guess, Dorian would have thought that only a few hours had passed, for his numerous wounds and injuries were still causing him a great deal of pain.

"It was three days ago that the androids destroyed Korin Tower," Gohan replied, his voice taking on a quiet, subdued tone. "Three days since they killed Yajirobe and Korin…" Gohan's eyes—those eyes that seemed far, far too old for someone so young—seemed to be focused on some unknown point in the air between Dorian and himself, and the Galdrian Prince didn't have to look too hard to notice the hint of moisture that the young man had kept skillfully hidden. "You really are lucky, you know," Gohan continued, snapping out of his daze and flashing Dorian a lopsided, comforting grin. "If I hadn't shown up when I did, 17 and 18 would've finished you off without a second thought.

"I don't doubt that," Dorian said, smiling slightly also. "But… How did you know where to find us? Surely you didn't just happen to be in the right place at the right time." He winced in pain as he sat up straighter, noticing a ceramic mug of water on the bedside table. After draining the mug completely, Dorian continued. "Were you looking for the androids as well, then?"

"I've been fighting them for years," Gohan answered, his expression becoming once again hard. The young man walked purposefully across the room, seating himself in a small chair beside Dorian's bed. "Ever since they first showed up here. They killed my father, my friends, almost everyone close to me… I swear, some day I'll destroy them both." Now the young man held his arms out before him, fists clenched and trembling. Finally Gohan managed to get his emotions back under control, and he turned his dark eyes back to Dorian.

"Tell me, Dorian: what were _you_ doing fighting them?"

Slowly, battling against a sudden bout of dizziness and nausea, Dorian told the young man everything that had happened to him since his arrival on Earth, including the fact that he had come from an alien planet. This, much to his surprise, didn't even cause Gohan to blink, and it seemed that the young warrior had had some experience with visitors from other worlds.

"When I was just a child," Gohan explained after Dorian had finished his tale, "my father and some others managed to protect this planet from a group of Saiyans, from planet Vegeta. They'd come here to wipe out all of the life forms, to sell the Earth on some intergalactic black market." He sighed and shook his head, eyes closed tightly against those old memories. "I'd give anything to have them here with me now. I'm so alone…"

Dorian's mind was spinning, for this boy had fired off names like "Saiyan" and "planet Vegeta" like they were so common place they hardly warranted mentioning! Back on Galdria, even mentioning the Saiyan race was a crime, even though the race was extinct and their planet destroyed. It seemed that, even though the war between the invading army of Saiyans and the people of Galdria had ended nearly five-hundred years ago, those old feelings of fear and hatred had refused to die off. Yet if Gohan was correct, and a group of Saiyans had arrived on Earth little more than a decade or so earlier, then perhaps their race hadn't died out after all, as the Galdrians had been led to believe…

"Your father and his friends must have been powerful indeed to fight off a group of Saiyans," Dorian said solemnly. "From all accounts, they were unbelievably strong and ruthless. I'd say that you're lucky to be alive, my friend.

"Actually, my father was a Saiyan too," Gohan replied with a grin. "And since _he_ was a full-blooded Saiyan that makes _me_ half." If the young man noticed the look of undisguised shock that suddenly dominated Dorian's features, he did a phenomenal job of hiding it.

Gohan jumped up from his seat and assumed a defensive fighting stance as Dorian suddenly, and entirely unexpectedly, let loose with a round of hysterical laughter. Tears flowed freely from the Galdrian's deep blue eyes, both of amused disbelief and joy at still being alive. Eventually, wiping his still-weeping eyes dry, Dorian composed himself, and Gohan eased back down into his chair, still keeping a wary lookout for anything amiss.

"Forgive me, my young friend," Dorian said finally, heaving a sigh of relief. "But on my world, you see, you Saiyans are portrayed as monstrous, blood-thirsty creatures; there are even tales to frighten young children which claim you have claws and fangs, and that you devour men's souls to ease your eternal hunger for blood and destruction." He looked longwise at the dark-haired young man who had saved his life, relieved to find only an expression of wry amusement on the half-Saiyan's face. "Our people were once at war with one another, Gohan, and I suppose the old wounds have refused to heal…"

"Well, I don't know anything about being at war with the Galdrians," Gohan admitted, absently running a hand through his unruly black hair, "but that sort of thing sure _sounds_ like something a Saiyan would do. But," he continued, looking Dorian straight in the eye, "where does that leave us?"

Dorian was silent a moment as he considered Gohan's question. By law, as a Prince of the Galdrian Empire, it was Dorian's duty to slay the young Saiyan on the spot; in fact, simply engaging in conversation with Gohan would have been cause enough to imprison the blue-haired Prince for life. On the other hand, Gohan _had_ saved his life, nurtured him back to health, and shown no signs whatsoever of ill will toward the Galdrian. _Besides_, Dorian admitted mentally, _I doubt I'd stand a chance against him in battle anyway… And I highly doubt that he'd simply stand there and _let_ me kill him!_

"As far as I'm concerned, Gohan, we have no reason to be at odds with one another." Dorian smiled as he extended his hand toward his young savior, who gladly took it. "Your home world is no more; even if you wanted to, you could never return to planet Vegeta. And I'm stranded here as well, so far from home…" For some reason, even though he'd been away from Galdria for so many years, admitting that he was hopelessly stranded on Earth seemed to shake Dorian to his core. After all he'd been through, after risking his lives in battle against the androids, it was this simple admission that nearly broke him. It was a long time before he spoke again, and when he did, it was with a voice thick with loss.

"No, Gohan, we have no quarrel. We are both earthlings, after all…"

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Dorian hardly recognized himself.

The face reflected in the mirror seemed like a complete stranger, and the former Prince of Galdria couldn't tear his eyes away. His hair, which had once been as dark and blue as the deepest ocean was now streaked with silver, making his appearance seem impossibly old to his own eyes. Fine wrinkles, barely noticeable by anyone else but glaringly obvious to someone born on Galdria, had been etched into his face, on his forehead and around his blue eyes, which seemed to have lost much of their former luster.

In short, Dorian looked to himself like an old man.

But that wasn't the worst of it: all of his Galdrian energy, that incredible power that came naturally to each and every member of his race, was simply _gone_. Dorian had known for some time that the Earth itself had been seemingly draining him of his native energy, but it appeared that his battle against 17 and 18, and the power that he'd been forced to expel, had finally drained him completely. The blue-eyed Prince, once one of the most powerful warriors from planet Galdria, now possessed not even enough strength to activate his prized energy saber.

"You don't look so bad," Gohan commented, putting down the small mirror that he'd been holding and clapping Dorian supportively on the back. "If anything, I'd say you look… _dignified_. Yes, dignified is a good word for it."

"You say 'dignified' but you mean 'old' right?" Dorian replied, his voice coming out more bitter than he'd intended. "Forgive me, but this is something of a shock. Galdrians are supposed to live for hundreds of years, Gohan, never showing any signs of age until they're well into their early hundreds." He reached down and picked up the discarded mirror, once again studying his changed appearance. "Look at me. I'm not even fifty yet, but I look as old as the elders from my world." He closed his eyes and looked away, shaking his head dismally. "And it isn't just my appearance, either. Gohan I… I _feel_ old."

It had now been almost a week since Dorian's defeat at the hands of Gero's androids, and though his numerous injuries still caused him considerable pain, at least he was no longer confined to his bed. Now, he had decided, it was time to return to the ruins of West City.

It was time to return to Erin…

"Listen," Gohan told him as the two stood before the small house in the woods that the young half-Saiyan called home. "I know you'll think I'm just saying it, but you really are an amazing fighter. And I'd be happy to have you at my side in battle any time…"

"But?" Dorian supplied, sensing that the dark-haired young man had more to say.

"But I think it's time for you to take it easy," Gohan continued, averting his gaze from the piercing eyes of Dorian. "I mean, you used up all of your energy against the androids Dorian, and you and I both know that you're in no condition to fight them again."

"What, then, should I do?" Dorian asked, trying his hardest not to take offense at Gohan's too-true words. _Whether I choose to admit it or not, I'm _not_ what I used to be. To face 17 and 18 again would be suicide…_

"You should settle down," Gohan said with a sad smile. "Find yourself a nice wife, have some kids, relax if you can. Believe me, Dorian," the orange-clad Saiyan went on, "its what I'd do if I had the choice… Besides, I made a vow to destroy the androids one day, no matter what. They're _my_ responsibility, Dorian, and I don't want anyone else involved. Trust me, 18 and 17 would only use you against me, and I can't let anyone get hurt because of me."

Silence descended upon the two warriors—one in the prime of his youth and power, the other nearing his twilight—who stood motionless as a faint breeze stirred the leaves overhead. While no words were spoken, it was obvious that both Dorian and Gohan's minds were running, each trying their hardest to end this discomforting stillness that had come between them. Finally, Dorian spoke.

"Very well then, my friend," he said, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'll take your advice, so long as you take some of mine in return."

"What's that?" Gohan asked with a lop-sided grin that was the mirror-image of his deceased father's.

"Promise me that, when you've finally killed the androids and avenged your friends, _you'll_ settle down too. Fair enough?"

"Sure Dorian," Gohan said with a nod of affirmation. "I promise."

The two clasped hands, neither saying any sort of goodbye as Dorian turned his back and began the long trek back home to West City, and to Erin. Gohan, after watching the Galdrian's retreat for several moments, also turned, entering his small home and wishing in vain that he and Dorian had met under better circumstances, during better times.

And, despite the seeds of friendship that were sown that day, they never saw one another again.

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The road home was long and hard.

Gohan's home, Dorian soon learned, was quite far away from his destination of West City, and it took the wearied Galdrian over a week, by foot, to arrive. The journey _should_ have taken much longer buy, miraculously, Dorian had encountered a young couple speeding across the ravaged country side in a banged up old hover car. The two had gladly given Dorian a lift the remainder of the way, and they parted ways with the blue-haired Prince on the outskirts of the city.

Now the stranded Galdrian stood outside the shabby dwelling that he and Erin shared, feeling understandably nervous, and entirely unsure of his next move. Slowly, with a trembling hand, Dorian reached out to push open the door, remember the last words that Erin had spoken to him.

"_Dorian, I love you…"_

Had she truly meant those words, or were they simply spoken in a moment of passion? If she really _had _loved him, shouldn't she have tried harder to get him to stay? Surely, had she loved him, Erin would have been much more stern about his leaving… And then, of course, there were the drastic changes in his appearance. When he'd left, Dorian had looked ten years younger than he did now. Would Erin still be willing to accept him, to love him?

"_Find yourself a nice wife, have some kids, relax if you can…"_

Dorian took a deep breath to steady himself as he touched his hand to the course wood of the shack's front door. He had made a promise to Gohan, a promise he intended to keep. _And I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather spend the rest of my life with_, Dorian admitted to himself. _I pray she still feels the same…_

Suddenly the door swung open, before Dorian had even had a chance to make a move. There, framed by the doorway and the late afternoon light which streamed in through the opposite window, stood Erin. Over her shoulder she had slung an empty rucksack, the kind she usually took with her when she went out scavenging for anything useful. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, leaving many stray hairs to drift around her bright face whenever she moved her head. Her stormy grey eyes locked with Dorian's, widening with disbelief.

All of the former Prince's earlier fears were driven away instantly when Erin flew into his arms, embracing him with a strength that seemed impossible from such a slight girl. To Dorian's amazement, Erin shed no tears; she merely clung to him as if her life depended on it, her face buried against his neck. Slowly, awkwardly, Dorian placed his arms around the girl who had come to mean so much to him, gently caressing her trembling shoulders.

"I cried for days when you left," she said, almost too softly to be heard. Though she had spoken, and apparently composed herself, Erin stayed enveloped in Dorian's embrace. "I was sure that you'd been killed, Dorian. I'd convinced myself that I'd never see you again… And now…"

"Now what?" Dorian asked, his voice sounding scratchy and dry to his own ears.

"Now I have no tears left."

"Erin," Dorian said, keeping his arms around the young woman's shoulders but taking a single step back. She looked up, meeting his eyes with her own. "I'll never leave you again."

She smiled, her eyes shining with relief at seeing the Galdrian Prince alive and well before her. "You promise?" she asked, tilting her head a little to the side and brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"I promise."

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_**To be concluded in:**_

"_**Contact"**_

_**The "Avenger" Epilogue!**_


	5. Epilogue: Contact

"**Avenger."**

**(Dorian's Tale)**

– **A "Chaotic Future" Side Story –**

**EPILOGUE:**

**CONTACT**

They entered the cave.

"Are you sure this is the right one?" a weary female voice asked. "I mean, this is the _fifth_ cave we've checked, Mr. Dorian. I don't mean to doubt you, but maybe you've forgotten where it is, you know?"

"He hasn't forgotten, Rika," a young man's voice replied from the darkness. There was a flash of light as a match was struck against the stone wall, illuminating the shadowy cave with a faint orange glow. "If my dad says this is the right cave, then it's the right cave, okay?"

"Oh yeah? Then what does that make the other four 'right caves,' huh?" Rika replied, pulling her sweat-soaked, long brown hair back into a ponytail. "God, as if the heat outside wasn't bad enough, we have to go traipsing around in these stuffy, humid caves. I mean, can't we just—"

"Shhhhh," a Dorian's voice silenced from deeper in the cave. "Gabriel, Rika, come closer," he said softly, his voice tinged with relief. "This is it, you two. We've found it."

The two teenagers moved swiftly forward, slipping carefully past Dorian into a small chamber filled from wall to wall, it seemed, with all manner of strange, discarded technical components. In a relatively clear spot in the center of the rock chamber sat what looked to be a cobbled-together communications system atop a sturdy metal tripod.

"It's been almost twenty years since I was last in this room," Dorian said wistfully, wiping sweat from his forehead as he gestured toward the tripod. "Well, Rika, let's see if you're really as good as you say you are, eh?"

"Trust me Mr. Dorian," Rika responded, her brown eyes alight with interest, "if I were half as good a martial artist as I am engineer, then _I_ could have taken out the androids by myself!"

"Give me a break, Rika, you were just a kid!" Gabriel exclaimed, rolling his eyes as he and his girlfriend crouched in the dirt next to the communications system.

The two continued to banter back and forth as Rika set down a satchel bag and began pawing through it, sorting out the equipment that she'd "borrowed" from her employer, Capsule Corporation. As she and Gabriel began working on Dorian's pet project of nearly twenty years, the former Prince of Galdria studied his young son with his piercing blue eyes.

Gabriel was fifteen, almost sixteen, years old now, and he was growing into a promising young warrior. Despite the fact that Dorian's own Galdrian powers had left him many years ago, the battle-seasoned Galdrian Heir had still retained all of his speed and skill with the blade, and he had passed that knowledge on to Gabriel. Strangely enough, Gabriel's own well of Galdrian energy seemed to be _increasing_ with each passing year rather than draining as Dorian's had.

It was just another mystery that the blue-haired former Prince didn't wish to dwell on…

Erin had died just weeks after giving birth to her and Dorian's only child, and the loss had torn the blue-eyed warrior apart. Erin's death, among other things, he blamed solely on the androids, for had they not embarked upon their decades-long rampage, then perhaps Erin would have had access to the medical attention that she'd so desperately needed. Even now, nearly sixteen years after her death, the memory still brought tears to Dorian's eyes. He pushed the old pain aside, turning his mind instead to the problem at hand.

For almost a year now, Dorian and Gabriel both had been plagued by nightmares so vivid that they nearly defied description. In these lucid dreams, father and son bore witness to the complete obliteration of planet Galdria, though Gabriel had at first no idea as to the nightmare's setting. One part of these terrifying dreams that hit Dorian the hardest involved the palace, his former home, being burned to the ground by some mysterious, dark force. After enduring these nightmares for several months, Dorian decided to reveal his past, _all of it_, to his son. Both then decided that these terrors must be some kind of warning; perhaps a portent of danger on planet Galdria.

That was what had brought them to this cave, miles away from their home in West City, in the middle of the night. Despite Dorian's protestations, Gabriel had told his friend Rika about the nightmares, and about planet Galdria. It was hoped that, with her help, the three of them may be able to complete Dorian's unfinished transmitter, so that a distress message could be sent to Galdria.

"Got it!" Rika said happily, leaning back on her heels and wiping sweat from her brow with a dirty rage. "Well, don't just sit there Gabriel! Drag this thing outside so we can see if it works!" With that, the young woman stood up and exited the cave, casting a faint smile to Dorian on the way out.

"Yes ma'am," Gabriel sarcastically replied, rolling his shining, nearly iridescent blue eyes. Carrying his heavy, fragile burden, Dorian's son left the cave next, following Rika out.

Dorian, though, remained behind for a moment, shining the light from his lantern around the nearly empty chamber. Each object here, everything he saw, seemed to have a special memory for him. He had gathered most of these components from the wreckage of his own spacecraft, and he'd spent uncounted sleepless nights here, slaving over what he had prayed would be his salvation from this wretched, war-torn world.

_How strange_, he thought, _that I've come to think of this place as home more than my lost Galdria?_ Shouts from outside the cave's mouth filtered in, snapping Dorian out of his reverie. As he made his way slowly out from the humid, dank, shadowy cavern, Dorian couldn't help but feel as if he were leaving a part of himself behind with it.

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Things had suddenly gone silent.

Dorian stepped into the small, starlit clearing, the dark night appearing strangely bright after so long in the dark cave. In the center of the clearing stood the cobbled-together transmitter, a faint light from its small view screen casting an eerie glow over the stunned features of Gabriel and Rika, who crouched motionless before it.

"Well, what is it?" Dorian asked, moving closer and kneeling behind his son to get a better look. For a moment, he was unsure of what he was seeing, but a single word from Rika brought the surreal scene suddenly to life for the stranded Prince of Galdria.

"Contact," Rika muttered, still in awe that the device was _actually_ working.

Sure enough, though the tiny, glowing screen was obscured by a tremendous amount of static and white noise, a faint shape could just barely be made out. Though he couldn't be sure, and it could very well have just been his imagination playing tricks on him, Dorian thought he could make out the details of a Galdrian soldier in uniform.

"Listen!" he shouted into the transmitter. "This is Prince Dorian de Galdri, son of Emperor Gilliam and Empress Pheris! I am alive, and stranded on a planet called Earth, please respond!" The figure on the view screen said something unintelligible, but obviously tinged with surprise. "Please, listen! Something dangerous is coming, do you hear me?! Tell Gilliam that something dangerous is on its way to Galdria!"

Suddenly, before anymore could be said, a loud popping sound issued from somewhere within the communications device. The screen abruptly went blank, and a cloud of thick black smoke drifted up from the transmitter. Rika cursed and attempted to repair the device, but it was too late.

For the second time in his life, Dorian found himself stranded hopelessly on the Earth. But this time, it didn't really bother him at all.

_I can only hope that they were able to understand the message… Please Mother, Father, be safe._

"Come Gabriel, Rika," Dorian said finally, standing to his feet. "We've done all we can. Let's go home."

Without even a single look back, Dorian left the clearing, gazing up intently at the star-riddled sky above, wondering, as he always did, which of those distant points of light might be the sun around which his beloved planet Galdria revolved.

_It doesn't matter_, he chided himself with a smile as he placed his arm around Gabriel's shoulders. _This is my home now._

_**The End.**_

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_Well, there you have it! Thanks for reading "Avenger," the first in a series of short, "Chaotic Future" side stories. I hope you enjoyed this story of Dorian's past, and please be on the lookout for the next installment in the Side Stories series: "Survivor (Pare's Tale)," which tells the untold story of Pare, Miura and Hanzo's father!_

_Thanks again, _

_AMdG_

_Arius Miura de Galdri_

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